


With One Small Change

by almondina



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode: s02e13 Doomsday, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 00:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almondina/pseuds/almondina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time is constantly in flux and everyone knows that just one small change can alter everything. What will one tiny alteration do to the Doctor and Rose Tyler on the day that first tore them apart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my beta rudenotgingr! Expect part 2 tomorrow.

He had been waiting five and a half hours.  Five and a half hours sitting, leaning his head back against the blue wooden doors, eyes closed, hoping.  Without realizing it, he fell asleep.

When he awoke later, far more than five and a half hours had passed; the morning light streaming through the broken glass windows and partially destroyed walls broke his heart. After everything, it was ending like this.

He reached for his phone and texted out a message to one of his colleagues. “Please add to list of the dead - Rose Marion Tyler and Doctor John Tardis Smith. If there is a monument, please ensure that their names are together. Thanks.”  He shoved the phone back in his pocket.

With the sigh of a man who had pulled himself together after his world ending around him so many times that it had become second nature, he hauled himself to his feet and pulled his key out.  So long had it sat snugly against his chest, warm when he was cold, soothingly cool when he was hot, a constant comfort to him in the seemingly endless years.

Gently, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.  Even he could feel her bristle at his presence.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, placing his hand solidly against the console, on an empty space between the levers and seemingly random objects that littered the space.  “I looked everywhere. I - I think they’re gone.”

These words seemed to calm her for some reason.  Maybe she always knew this was coming, he thought.  

“I know you have a connection with him, so if you can feel him...” he trailed off hopelessly and blinked back some traitorous tears. She hummed, sadly, sympathetically. 

He took a deep breath and shook his head. He was better than this. There would be time for emotions later when things were more stable. 

If they’d ever be stable now without him.

He glared up at the ceiling at that thought.  A light flashed right in his eyes for a brief moment.

“Sorry, sweetheart, that wasn’t directed at you,” he grinned, running his hand along the console edge. “Now, I need to get you someplace safe. I know of a place, but I can’t exactly pick you up to take you. Is there any way you could, I don’t know, change your outer shape into something more portable? I mean, I love your current shape, who wouldn’t?” He winked at the time rotor. “But, I don’t want any curious eyes trying to pry their way in...”

The words died on his lips as an excessively large book appeared literally before his eyes. He quickly caught it before it hit the ground.

It was massive with a singed cover and edges so bent that he was only fairly certain that the book had once been rectangular.  There were earmarked and tabbed pages, color coded in some order that was unknown to him. There was a series of several post-it notes on the front cover, with words scribbled out and erased sloppily before a new note was placed on top.  The book and the handwritten scrawl were all in that mysterious circular script that he recognized but could not read.

“This is Emergency Program 9.4,” an unfamiliar voice came from behind him.  

Shocked, he turned to see a tall, skinny man. Handsome with dark eyes that twinkled with a constant quirk of humor. A freckled face that crinkled up when he smiled. Slightly unkempt hair, that purposeful just-out-of-bed look.  The man wore an almost ridiculously tight brown suit with dark blue pinstripes, a tan Oxford with a dark blue patterned tie, and beat up Converse.

He knew who it was immediately.

“Rose, if you’re seeing this,” the man continued. “Then I’m gone. And I’m sorry.”

He bit his lip, trying to keep the emotions in as he watched a holographic message that he was never meant to see.

“Since you’re still here, though, I don’t regret anything. If it saved you, I don’t care that I’m gone. I -”  The man paused and looked away for a moment, seeming to compose himself.  “This is different from the Emergency Program One that you lectured me on to no end.” The man’s eyes sparkled at an obvious in-joke between the two. “The TARDIS will be taking you someplace safe, but please understand that I am gone.  No regenerating this time.  This program only activates if the TARDIS can no longer feel me at all. Please don’t go looking for me. I don’t want you in any more danger on my behalf.”

He wondered why the TARDIS was showing him this.  To confirm that they were gone?

“I know you, Rose Tyler.  And I know you won’t settle for a beans-on-toast telly watching life anymore.  So you need to find Jack.”

He froze, not even daring to breathe.

“I never told you and I’m sorry.  Jack is alive and he’s somewhere nearby in your time.  I don’t know where exactly, but I can feel him every time we’re there.  He... Rose, he died. And when you became Bad Wolf, you brought him back.  But, somehow, you did more than that.  You made him a fixed point in time and space.  And fixed points cannot be altered.  When they are, the universe itself ripples back upon itself to fix them. I physically become ill when we get too close to wherever he is.  I’m sorry and I know you’re furious with me, but you know I’m a coward.  I run.” The man fell silent, looking away again. 

“Please tell him,” the man continued after a moment, still looking away. “Tell him that I’m sorry.”

He felt a tear trickle down his cheek.

“Once you find Jack, come back to the TARDIS.  Jack can fly her, I’m sure of it.  I was going to start teaching him before the Game Station happened.  There’s a manual somewhere around here; I’m sure the old girl will give it to you.  It won’t be the same, but I want to give you the stars. I want to give you everything, Rose.  I came so close to losing you today, to losing everything and I...” The man stopped and swallowed, closing his eyes. When he spoke again, it was in the strange musical language of a now extinct people. “That... That was giving the TARDIS permission to translate Gallifreyan for you.” The man laughed shakily and opened his eyes. “Ah, coward every time,” the man sighed, almost to himself. “Sorry! So, yes, emergency program 9.4. Go find Jack, see the stars, continue to be brilliant and amazing and wonderful and beautiful and so perfectly human. I... Rose, I... ...I lied earlier. Watch it back with the translation. I’m sorry. I’ll always be a coward, even to the end.”

The transmission cut out abruptly. He looked down at the heavy volume in his hands. “TARDIS TYPE 40 OPERATION MANUAL.”  He ran a finger along the topmost sticky note. 

_Jack:  
Don’t try to show off.  Follow the yellow tabbed instructions.  Sorry about the burnt parts. Threw it into a supernova once. TARDIS didn’t talk to me for a month. _

_Take care of Rose. If you hurt her, I’ll figure out a way to haunt you._

_-The Doctor-_

_PS - ~~Mickey the idiot might work well onboard.  Might be good for Rose if she’s lonely too. Just no other stupid apes. They’ll mess up my TARDIS.~~ Mickey is stuck in another universe. Long story. Pick up good companions for you and my Rose._

_PPS - It’s still my TARDIS even if I’m dead. Show some respect or I’ll haunt you._

_PPPS - If you have an orgy on my ship, I’ll kill you._

He laughed, not even bothering to wonder how all of that fit on one note. So, she was translating now... It was private, but he was so curious.

“Can you replay that message? Just that one part?” he asked in a hopeful tone.

The man’s image appeared again.

“I came so close to losing you today,” the man spoke as he had before. “To losing everything and I... Fuck, Rose, I can’t keep doing this. I know I died without telling you because I just can’t. English can never express how much I adore you. I have always, do, will always love you for all of time, through all of my lives. I wish to entwine my timeline with yours into eternity, until they become indistinguishable from one another.  Your heartbeats fill the silence in my chest between the beats of my own hearts... That... That was giving the TARDIS permission to translate Gallifreyan for you.” The man shook his head sadly. “Ah, coward every time.”

The message cut off.

“Now, I know it wasn’t that long before - were those standard expressions of love in Gallifreyan that don’t translate easily into English? Complicated verb tenses and such?” he asked the sentient ship. She hummed in agreement. He sighed and laughed a little. “Oh, Doc, you’re hopeless.” He smiled up at the time rotor. “Sweetheart, do you think you could move us to the Torchwood Hub in Cardiff? Same time is fine - I just want you somewhere more secure.”

In response, the rotor began to churn and he felt the familiar tug of the ship’s movement.

With a heavy sigh, he opened the heavy volume to the first yellow tabbed page.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and a half hours earlier...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my glorious beta rudennotgingr. Part 3 tomorrow!

“I think this is the on switch...?”

The Doctor almost jumped out of his skin, gaping at Rose as she reappeared. He stalked over to her and roughly grasped her shoulders.

“Once the breach collapses, that’s it,” he said passionately, his eyes dark and boring straight into hers.  The heated gaze that millions shied away from in fear.  “You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!” 

Rose stared calmly back at him. “I made my choice a long time ago and I’m never gonna leave you.”

The Doctor stared at her and loosened his grip on her. He didn’t understand. Didn’t she know he could never give her what she needed? That she’d want to leave one day and have nowhere to go? He eyed the big yellow button around her neck. One push...

“So what can I do to help?” Rose’s voice broke into his thoughts. The two of them locked eyes in a silent battle of wills.

He never could deny Rose Tyler.

“Those coordinates over there,” the Doctor said, pointing at a computer. “Set them all to six.”  

Rose took the dimension hopper off of her neck and handed it to the Doctor before walking over to the computer.  He was stunned.  She trusted him to not send her away again.  She wanted to stay with him and she trusted him and why did the damn Daleks have to be in the middle of all this? He wished he could just retire peacefully, curl up with this amazing pink and yellow creature forever.

He shook his head. Focus.

“Hurry up,” he snapped, a little more forcefully than he meant to, and stuffed the dimension hopper in his pocket, the chain dangling out a little. He raced to his own terminal, typing furiously.

“We’ve got Cybermen on the way,” Rose called over, looking at the computer screen.

“How many floors down?” the Doctor asked, running over to check.

“Just one.” 

The Doctor fingered the chain of the dimension hopper.

“Wait, they’re... they’re disappearing? I don’t understand.” Rose tapped the computer monitor as though it would suddenly explain what she was seeing.

“Disappearing or dying. Maybe a malfunction,” he commented, tapping commands into a laptop.

“Levers Operational,” the computerized voice announced cooly. The Doctor grinned over at Rose, a wide manic grin, reminiscent of a past incarnation that favored leather and cozy jumpers.

“That’s more like it, bit of a smile!” Rose exclaimed. “The old team!”

The Doctor hauled up a manga clamp and walked over to her. He started fixing it to the wall next to the lever.

“Hope and Glory!” he called cheerfully. “Mutt and Jeff! Shiver and Shake!”

“Which one’s Shiver?” Rose asked with a grin.

“Oh, I’m Shake!” The Doctor laughed and went to affix the magna clamp on his side. “Did I press the red button? Is it secure?” he called over.

Rose made a show of tugging on the clamp, going as far as to hold her body almost horizontal to the floor. “Yeah, I think we’re good.” She winked at him.

“Good. Ok, when it starts, just hold on tight. It shouldn’t be too bad for us, but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void Stuff.” Rose nodded. The Doctor took a deep breath. “Are you ready?” he asked.

“Yeah, but so are they,” Rose replied, looking out the window at the incoming Daleks. The Doctor nodded grimly.

“Let’s do it.”

The pair pushed the levers into their upright positions and quickly grabbed onto the magna clamps, wrapping both arms around the handles tightly.

“Online,” the calm computer voice announced.

The bright light of the Void breach filled the space and strong winds began gusting through the room, sucking the Daleks nearby through the glass windows and into the white light.

“The breach is open!” the Doctor yelled over the wind as his body was tossed about. “Into the Void! Ha!!”

Rose grinned back at him, barely managing to keep her eyes open.  The wind was tossing her about like a rag doll as she clung to the clamp.

“Offline.” The computer’s voice pronounced. The pair watched in horror as Rose’s lever slowly descended. The wind died down. Dozens of Daleks floated in the space between them.  With a determined look, Rose reached out for the lever, trying to hold onto the clamp with her other hand.

To the Doctor’s horror, she released the magna clamp and fell onto the lever, clinging to it.

“I’ve gotta get it upright!” Rose groaned, pushing the lever into the upright position with great effort.

“Online and locked.” The wind picked up again, the pull into the Void greater than ever. Rose clung to the lever, her palms feeling sweaty and slick.

“Rose! Hold on!” the Doctor shouted desperately. No. No no no no no. Not Rose. Please, not Rose.

She struggled, barely holding on with one hand. Her fingers scrambled for purchase on the handle.

“HOLD ON!” The Doctor yelled. She looked over at him helplessly, apologetic as her fingertips slipped from the handle.

Rose fell towards the brilliant white light of the Void, crying out in terror. 

“ROSE!” the Doctor screamed. No, please, no. Take me instead. Please, put me in the Void. Not her. Please. Anything, I’ll do anything, just please...

Suddenly, Pete Tyler appeared before the breach, catching his sort-of-daughter as she crashed into him. The dimension hopper dangling around his neck slammed painfully into her side. The Doctor and Rose locked eyes for a brief moment before Pete wrapped his arms around Rose and slammed his hand down on the spare hopper he was clutching. 

“NO!!” Rose screamed, instantly yanking herself out of Pete’s arms and pounding furiously on the wall. “Take me back! Take me back!!” she sobbed.

“Rose...” Jackie began helplessly. Mickey shifted his weight from one foot to the other uncertainly. Pete gingerly pressed his dimension hopper. Nothing happened.

“He did it,” Pete commented quietly. “The breach is closed. He really did it.”

“Oh, come on, don’t sound so surprised.”

The small group whirled around to stare at the man slowly getting to his feet behind them where the levers had been in the other universe.  He appeared to have dropped from his horizontal position holding the clamp straight onto the floor, hidden by the storage boxes being kept in the room.

“I mean, really, Pete Tyler, you’re the one who said I could do it.” The Doctor sniffed and smoothed down his suit as best he could.

Before any of them could form a coherent thought, a blur of yellow hair and turquoise jacket flew past them, throwing itself onto the pinstriped figure.

“I thought I lost you,” Rose sobbed into his chest, her arms and hands desperately clutching his back, his shoulders, his neck, his hair. 

“Me? Nah, we’re the old team, right?” the Doctor replied, his cheerful tone and grin attempting to cover for the tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. He wound his arms tightly around Rose, one hand tangled in her hair, holding her so very close. He rested his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes. 

“But but how?” Jackie finally sputtered. “If you coulda jumped over whenever, then why all that drama b’fore?!”

Without relinquishing his hold on Rose, the Doctor reached one hand into his pocket and pulled out the other dimension hopper. He tossed it onto the floor. It skittered to a stop in front of Mickey.

“I had that on me. When Pete activated the hoppers to save Rose, they grabbed me too.”

“You’re stuck?” Rose asked in a small, shaky voice, leaning back to look at him.  Her small face was streaked with black mascara. She looked so young, sad, guilty. The Doctor gently wiped away a stray tear with his thumb.

“Stuck with you, it’s not so bad,” he replied, looking down at this amazing being who he had been given a second, third, fourth chance with. He knew that he had to seize this incredible opportunity. No more missed chances, no more unspoken words. If her slap-friendly mother wasn’t standing ten feet away...

“Yeah?” she replied, a small smile sneaking its way onto her face.

“Yes.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She awoke to her name; the whisper breaking through her dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we reach the end. Thank you to all who have read and commented and kudos'd!
> 
> I'm thinking of turning this into a 'verse, but I haven't decided yet. We'll see.
> 
> And grateful thanks to my beta rudennotgingr~

“Rose....”

Rose was asleep in her bed. Warm and safe, she snuggled closer to her pillow.

“Rose...”

Suddenly, Rose sat bolt upright.

“Rose....” The woman in question turned and glared at the alien man-boy sitting on the bed. She grabbed his cool hand and removed it from behind her neck.

“Your hand is freezing,” she stated, fixing him with a look.  He just grinned at her.

“Rose....” the Doctor said again in the half-whisper he always used when he was trying to wake her. 

“What.”

“I need the car. We need to go somewhere,” he replied, bouncing on the bed a little. Rose glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table.

“At three in the morning.”

“Yes. Sorry, we have to get there in time. There’s not going to be much of a window.”

“Doctor, if this is another of your -”

“The TARDIS is calling me, Rose,” the Doctor interrupted, the childlike grin falling away. He looked at her seriously. “I don’t know how or why, but I do know where and when.” 

Rose’s eyes widened and she leapt from the bed, racing to her closet to pull on a T-shirt. She glanced back at him.

“Well, what are you waitin’ for? Shift!” she exclaimed.

 

They packed up Pete’s old Jeep and drove off into the night. Jackie, Pete and Mickey insisted on going with them.  They all knew that these could be their last moments together.  If they could, Rose and the Doctor would be going back.

They all alternated driving as the Doctor directed them, going purely off of intuition and feelings from his lost ship. Almost a full day later, they arrived at a remote beach on the Southern part of Norway.

The pair stood together on the cold, empty sand and waited.

“You sure this is the place?” Jackie called over from her warm seat inside the Jeep with an annoyed tone.

“Yes!” the Doctor snapped back. He had been patient the first seventeen times she’d asked, but really, it was getting a bit excessive.

“Sorry, I seem to be a bit late to the party!” a flirty voice called out.

“Oh, my God,” Rose breathed. The Doctor blinked several times.

“Jack?!” he exclaimed. “What... where are you? And why are you so... hologram-y”

“Oh, sorry, Doc...” Jack turned from them and called over his shoulder. “Hey, Red! Can you turn that switch to the left? Yeah, that one. Thanks, doll.” Jack sharply came into focus, grinning wildly at them.

“Where are you?” Rose asked.

“In the TARDIS.”

“What are you doing inside my TARDIS?!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Wait, how did you recognize me? Wait, no. More important. Who have you brought onto my TARDIS to flirt with and what exactly have you done on my poor ship? I have a rule about orgies.”

“What exactly happened in your past that you had to make a rule about orgies on the TARDIS?” Rose asked incredulously.  The Doctor pretended not to have heard her.

“Relax, Doc. I’m taking care of her just like you asked,” Jack said, holding his hands up in a placating motion.  “I was helping to clean up after Canary Wharf when I found her.  Couldn’t find you anywhere, so I let myself in. She showed me, oh what was it... Emergency Program 9 point something.”

“9.4,” the Doctor breathed. He ran his hand roughly down his face. “So you know.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t - I mean - I’m -”

“Look, Doc, we don’t have much time, so no apologizing. There’s just one little gap left and it’s about to close. We’re in orbit around a supernova just to get the power.”

“Burning up a sun just to say goodbye? I’m flattered, Captain,” the Doctor grinned.

“What emergency program? And how was Jack even there to clean up? I thought he was helping the Earth recover after the Game Station incident.” Rose glared up at the Doctor.

“Rosie, he can explain later.  I just wanted to see for myself that you two were...” Jack paused, looking up briefly. “I wanted to see you were okay. After the battle and the TARDIS letting me take over, I thought for sure... It’s really good to see you.”

“How long has it been, Jack?” Rose asked.

“Five years.”

“What?!” The Doctor exclaimed. “I thought this universe was the one running ahead! It’s only been a year here...”

“Where did this come out anyway?” Jack asked.

“Norway,” the Doctor replied.

“Back of bloody beyond!!” Jackie yelled over, still annoyed.

“Yes, thank you, Jackie!” the Doctor yelled back. Jack laughed.

“I take it that is Rose’s mum? Look at you, Doc, all domesticated.”

“Hey, I am not all, all, all domesticated. I still adventure, saving this Earth from various peoples, you know how it is.”

“Sure, Doc. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Whoever,” the Doctor corrected.

“What?”

“Whoever, not whatever.” He looked down at Rose with a soft smile. She blushed and bumped him with her shoulder.

“Is that them?” a voice demanded, interrupting the moment and walking up next to Jack. The redhead looked them over critically. “Well, she’s a looker, but he’s just a long streak of nothin’.”

“...Donna?!” the Doctor and Rose exclaimed.

“What. Are they psychic or somethin’?” Donna asked Jack.

“She.. well, the Donna in this universe... she’s my new assistant!” the Doctor sputtered.

“I told you it was destiny, Red,” Jack winked. Donna rolled her eyes, making the Doctor laugh.

“What kind of work does a retired alien-hunting-alien do that he needs an assistant?” Donna asked, ignoring Jack’s leering as she always did. Well, usually did. “It better not be some weird Martian thing.”

“I’m a doctor!” he announced proudly.

“Yes, I heard that part. ‘The Doctor’. Don’t you have a proper name? Are all Martians this weird?” Donna complained.

“I’m - I’m not - I’m not from Mars... No, I’m literally a doctor now.  I’m head of the medical department at Torchwood. Completely different from that horrible organization in our old universe, thank goodness.”

“Doctor Doctor!” Jack grinned. “Love it.”

“How much time is left?” Rose asked. Jack leaned over to look at something.

“About two minutes.” They all fell silent after his pronouncement.

“I can’t think of what to say!” Rose burst out after a moment, breaking the silence. Jack laughed and pointed behind them.

“Still have Mickey Mouse with you? Got a little three-way going on?”

“Ugh, really, Jack?” Donna sighed, shaking her head.

“Jack...” the Doctor said warningly.

“There’s six of us now,” Rose said with a grin. “Mum, Dad, Mickey... and the baby.”

“YES! Way to go, Doc!” Jack pumped his fist into the air triumphantly.

“No no no, it’s Jackie,” the Doctor said quickly. “I mean, not that it wouldn’t be possible for Rose to - er, yes, well, right, Jackie’s pregnant. About seven months gone. I really hope it’s a boy. I don’t think I can handle another Tyler woman.” Rose pushed him playfully with her shoulder.

“Oh.” Jack looked extremely disappointed. Rose came to a decision.

“Actually, Doctor,” Rose said hesitantly, touching his jacket sleeve.

“Hmm?” the Doctor looked down at her curiously.

“I probably should have said there are seven of us...”

Jack tried his best to contain the girlish squeal threatening to escape him.

“Rose...? You’re... Are you...?”

“Six weeks along. I just got confirmation yesterday,” she said shyly.

“YES!!!!” Jack’s ecstatic response echoed throughout the TARDIS and along the beach in Norway. Donna couldn’t help but smile at the tender scene before her.

“What? What was that? What happened?!” Jackie yelled over. Everyone ignored her.

“Doc, you marry that girl, you hear me?”

The Doctor stared at Rose in awe. He reached a hand out and hesitantly touched her stomach. He reached up with his other hand and gently cupped Rose’s cheek.

“Oh, Rose Tyler, I -”

The transmission cut out before Jack and Donna could hear the rest. But they both knew how that sentence was going to end.


End file.
